Until recently, California’s seismic detection systems have been rather lacking. By no means is there any suggestion that earthquakes and volcanic eruptions could have been predicted, but the latest technology in California can now analyze seismic events (with more accuracy than ever before.) In turn, this allows people to be better prepared.
Millions of people have lived in California for decades and know that seismic activity is unavoidable and unpredictable since they’ve lived with it for as long as they’ve lived there. If a large earthquake has ever happened, there has always been very little warning. While evacuation measures have improved over the years, it wasn’t until recently that technology could analyze regions and pin locations where stronger seismic activity would likely happen – and happened.
California, Washington, and Oregon now have access to ‘MyShake,’ an app that notifies residents of seismic activity and allows people to interact by reporting events as they happen in real-time. In both events of the back-to-back magnitude 5.0+ earthquakes in California last week, the secondary earthquakes (aftershocks) were anticipated by the MyShake App.
MyShake is a result of the combined efforts of California’s Seismic Detection Systems. In Northern California, Berkeley Seismology Lab and USGS weigh in on seismic activity, and Seismologic Laboratory at CalTech and Southern California Seismic Network (also USGS) in Southern California. The state’s Center for Engineering and Strong Motion Data through the California Department of Conservation, and the California Office of Emergency Services for Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Volcanoes will also contribute to California’s seismicity.
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